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Lauren Lenahan
A Quick Thank You I would like to thank my amazing grandmother Peggy Hansen for helping me so much through this project. While she has not been with us for many year, without her extensive scrapbooks and family trees it would have been impossible for me to learn as much from this project as I have. Thank you grandma and I love you. Lauren, Chicker, Buttmuch, Lollie, Brat, or Tootie Is it just a name? My name is Lauren Lenahan, well sometimes that is. It depends what part of my family I am around that decides my name. If it's a daddy daughter day I am going to be called "Chicker". If I am talking with or spending time with my older brother Chaz I will answer to "Buttmunch". If I am with my Lenahan grandparents I am always called "Lollie". If my uncle Chip Hansen is around I will be referred to as "Brat". I would even answer to "Tootie" when my Hansen grandparents were still living. So while yes, my legal name is Lauren, I have learned that each of these names that have been given to me by my family have special meaning to me and show very different parts of me and my personality. They aren't just little nicknames for me, they are a special connection to my family that no one else could or ever will have. Who am I? So while I have explained that I am a woman of many names, I haven't explained the other aspects of myself. I was born December 24, 1992 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to my parents Kevin and Kathy Lenahan. We later moved to Topeka, Kansas so that my father could build his optometry practice, The Spectacle ,near his hometown of Tonganoxie, Kansas. I was raised in Topeka and lived there with my parents and brother Chaz. After graduating from high school, I realized that Kansas just wasn't the place for me and decided to come back to my family roots in Oklahoma and attend the University of Oklahoma. I am a sophomore here at OU and I am a double major in women and gender studies and communications. While this covers some of the basics of my life it doesn't even begin to display who I really am. I feel that in order to do that it is necessary to look back at where I came from. Hansen and Haase SCAN0002.JPG|Ana and Jorgen Hansen with their children. Back Row: Louise, Margaret, Carl, Jens, Mary, and Valborg. Front Row: Ana and Jorgen SCAN0015.JPG|Ana Hansen SCAN0016.JPG|Peter and Karen Hansen SCAN0014.JPG|Valborg Hansen SCAN0003.JPG|Valborg and Charley Hansen on their wedding day in 1914. SCAN0004.JPG|Clayton (Rocky) Hansen SCAN0005.JPG|Peggy Hansen, born February 7, 1925. SCAN0007.JPG|Peggy Hansen, 3 years old. SCAN0009.JPG|Haase Family. Back Row: Harry and Milton Front Row: Peggy and Martha SCAN0008.JPG|Peggy and Clayton (Rocky) Hansen, while they were dating. Danes Marry Danes Thanks to my amazing grandmother Peggy Hansen I was able to view my family history on the Hansen-Haase side as far back as our beginings in America. Two sets of my great great grandparents, Jorgen and Ana Hansen as well as Peter and Karen Hansen, immigrated to America from Denmark. Which would make my great grandparents, Charley and Valborg Hansen first generation Americans. Hansen is a very common Danish family name. Our family finds it humorous that my great grandmother, Valborg Hansen, fell in love with another Danish Hansen, Charley Hansen. The two of them were married April 7, 1914. My great grandmother never had to change her last name as her husband Charley's lastname was also Hansen. Germany and Russia My Haase side of the family immigrated to America from Russia. They were not originally from Russia however, my great grandparents Martha and Henry were from Germany and later moved to Russia. While most of my grandmothers siblings were born in Germany and Russia my grandmother, Peggy, was born in the United States. It had never occured to me that my great grandparents lived in Russia, but now that I have learned that it seems silly that I never noticed it before. My grandmother was known for making several specific meals, kraut ribs and kraut runza. While you may think that these meals would be traditionally Germany foods since they involve sauerkraut they are actually Russian. Kraut runzasor bierocks, as they are known in Russia are a traditional Russian comfort food. This meal reinforces my family's not only German heritage but Russian as well. Rocky Hansen My grandfather Clayton, or Rocky as he is also known, Hansen was born in Osakis, Minnesota on April 16, 1922 to Valborg and Charley Hansen. He was the last of three children his two older siblings were named, Marguerite and Sylvin. While my grandpa Rock had the chance to grow up with his older sister Marguerite, the same cannot be said about Sylvin. Sylvin Hansen passed away after only living for eight months and twenty days, the cause for his death was never known. My grandfather grew up all over Minnesota and North Dakota and eventually graduated high school from Moorhead High School in Moorhead, Minnesota in 1940. Following high school Rocky joined the army and was deployed to Karachi, India in 1942 where he worked in radio communications. During his time in India he came in contact with a great deal of monkey and camels. Whenever my brother and I asked him about the war he told the same stories about getting spit on by camels and being attacked by monkeys. Since he never saw the line of fire he often made up stories about how he was shot in his sleep, which my grandmother Peggy responded with "Rock! The never happened! Your army blanket got eaten by moths!". When he returned to the United States he met my grandmother Peggy and later married her. Following marriage he went on to brick laying school and started his own masonry company, Hansen Masonry, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Which is how he recieved his nickname Rocky and later his son became Chip, because of the saying chip of the old rock. Peggy Haase-Hansen My grandmother was born Peggy Arline Haase on February 7, 1925 at 5:30 AM in Lincoln, Nebraska. She grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska and graduated from Lincoln High School in 1942. Following high school she worked for Western Union. This is how she met my grandfather Rocky, since they were both worked in radio communications during World War II. She eventually married my grandfather and they settled in Oklahoma City where they both lived until their passing. The Lenahan Clan My grandparents on my fathers side are Eleanor and Robert, or Bob, Lenahan. They were both born and raised in Tonganoxie, Kansas. They attended the same and only high school in Tonganoxie, Tonganoxie High School. While my grandfather is older than my grandmother he has said that he always admired her and thought she was, as he would say, a "pistol". He explained to me that she often went to the dance hall in town with different boys every weekend. When I asked my grandmother about this she said, "There is nothing wrong with a few dates Lollie." Eventually my grandfather was able to win my grandmother over and keep her attention away from her other suitors and they were eventually married. They settled in the town they were raised in. Where my grandfather eventually opened his own small business, Lenahan Garage, and worked as a fulltime mechanic. This small business supported my grandparents and their family until my grandfather's retirement. My grandfather is enjoying his retirement in Tonganoxie where he still owns rental homes and does odd jobs, while my grandmother works part time for an optometrist. Wait, You Two Are Siblings? When I tell people about my older brother Chaz and his crazy shananigans they are always dying to see a picture of him. When I finally show them though their immediate reaction is "wait, you two are siblings?". My brother Charles John who we call Chaz is in reality my half brother, but we have never felt the need to distinguish between the two. Chaz's father Lance and our mother Katy were married right out of high school. They only had one child and eventually their marriage ended in divorce. Chaz has had very little contact with his father throughout the years but did keep in constant contact with one grandfather on his father's side throughout the years until his death. Chaz and I have always grown up together. We have never known anything different than being together. While Chaz and I look nothing alike because of the Native American coloring he received from his father's side of the family our personalities are eerily similar. We are complete goofballs who when we are together are constantly laughing and telling jokes. I would love Chaz whether we were related or not and he has grown to be one of my best friends. We All Have Our Own Problems Every family has its own problems, but sometimes these problems seem to be passed down to the next generation. My family has had a great deal of addictions throughout the years. My grandfather Rocky suffered from a gambling addiction that eventually led to my mother having to change schools and have a drastic change in lifestyle. My grandfather Rocky also had a drinking problem that plagued him until his death. In his later years he would have his live-in nurse drive him to the bar after he had his license revoked. This addiction to alcohol is not only seen the Hansen side of my family but the Lenahan side as well. My grandpa Bob also struggled with alcohol during his younger years and eventually gave up drinking cold turkey once my father was born. These issues with addiction have stumbled into the life of my older brother Chaz, but he has taken control of his life at this time and is currently working at the rehab clinic Turning Point in Salt Lake City, Utah to help others who are suffering with addiction. My Family: Race, Gender, and Class My family as far back as our move from Europe to the United States, has lived in a white heteronormative world. All of the portions of my family have had a father and mother. Also until my mother, the wife or mother did not work, and if she did it was only part-time. This does not only make a statement about my family in the area of gender but class as well. My family has been fortunate to be in a place financially that the wife and mother can stay at home or only work for leisure. In terms of race my family is white, with the exception of my brother Chaz who's father was Native American. Reflections My family has been my everything. I have learned so much from them. While I did learn some negative stereotypes by living in an extremely white herteronormative family I was still open to new experiences. My mother always taught me to be open and to be honest be pretty liberal. My family has always pushed me to do whatever I feel I need to and to strive for my dreams. Without them I would not be where I am today. Family Tree Category:Students